Just out of curiosity, I checked out their prices for common things like installing a hard drive or additional RAM. Freakin expensive. But hey, if it's something you're not comfortable doing yourself, I guess it's fine. At least if something breaks, you can blame them for it.

Just be sure to back-up your data first. They've been known to "accidentally" wipe hard drives. Actually, it's just better if you remove all of your personal files, and keep it on an external drive while they work on your computer. Because they will definitely look through your stuff and make copies of stuff they like.. MP3s, pics, porn, etc.

xrichx said... they will definitely look through your stuff and make copies of stuff they like.. MP3s, pics, porn, etc.

uhmm.. negative sir. Agents who do that get fired, which has happened numerous times.The only time we make copies is when the customers request a data backup, and even then, we don't look at any pictures or porn, just the name on the files.

As far as the OP's question, it depends on which GS u go to. I've worked in some pretty terrible ones where nothing would get done for weeks... Ask what their turnaround time is and if it's over 7 days w/o sending it away, find a different store. For price, it depends on what service u need: virus removal, yes (ur computer's covered by us for a year after we fix it); memory install, no probably not it's soo easy a caveman can do it; laptop motherboard outside warranty, it's cheaper to buy a new laptop

My friends laptop was having issues with charging beyond what I could figure out, so I took it to them and they tested their charger vs. my friends and deducted that it was the motherboard, and also said it would likely be worth the money to just replace the laptop since motherboards are expensive.

And I got all of this information free of charge. No complaints!!

I do think some of their services are a total wash though. I think they charge 40 bucks to set up a video game console and add profiles for everyone you want or something like that. Ludicrous in my opinion. But if they make money off of that then more power to them!

Best Buy's car stereo installations are done under the Geek Squad name, and I'm happy with the service I've received. They recently repaired some corroded speaker wires, and they didn't charge me for it.

I found them to be expensive and very slow to get the work completed. It took them a week to determine my video card was shot. I was chargedThen when I went to pick it up they took about an hour to fetch it from the back. The cashier said she was waiting for a technician to unplug it from the system. I asked for a manager...that never came. I do NOT plan on using there services ever again!

Everything is extremely overpriced. My friends have asked them quotes, and they've returned numbers in the hundreds. I said: look, give it to me, and I'll fix it for free. In fact, I've been thinking of starting up my own campus tech support freelancing, where I charge perhaps less than 10% of what they do. Still hammering out the plan though, only a recent idea.

My laptop had a rootkit and some other bugs. I took it to the help desk at my university and they cleaned it up. I took it home and as soon as I clicked on my web browser, I got all kinds of pop-ups (even though my pop-up blocker was on) and my volume control won't work (it says I don't even have a sound card). My Norton says my computer is secure, but I'm not sure that's right.

I used Geek Squad to deliver and mount my new 46" TV. I bought a cantilever bracket with the TV and they brought all the hardware, did all the drilling, and got everything done exactly like I asked. It took about 3 hours but I'm really happy with the results.

I also had them come back after a few months and "calibrate" the TV, which was $300 well spent, IMHO. The TV runs cooler and the picture quality is even sharper than before.

Not sure if I would take a computer to them, though...unless the hard drive was already erased...talk about handing over your personal life to a stranger!

I did. But only in-store. I took one of my laptops after it was affected by some hardcore virus and a geek squad girl help me out by giving detailed instructions in how to recover/save all files and what I needed to do in order to get the virus out. It was free-of-charge and she even wrote a how-to in a piece of store receipt for me to follow.

Buffhunk64 saidWhen I got my new tv, I had the Geek Squad guy come out and set it up. Was very knowledgeable, helpful, was here for a couple hours making sure everything worked right. Plus he was about 23 and looked totally hot in his gray workman's uniform. No, there is no 'rest of the story' to tell. LOL

They were useless to me. I had six months of free Geek Squad phone help when I purchased my computer. Every time I called, the geek could never help me. He or she would then transfer me to another Geek who couldn't help either. I'd be on the phone sometimes up to a half an hour and then be told for a fee ($200) they could help me. I wound up Googling the problems I was having and found all the answers I needed on YouTube.